This song was in “A Star is Born”. The happier I become, the more I feel like this. I am so busy because “I’m like a child at the fun fair. Every ride invites me”. I want to make a movie. I want to write music. I want to offer Happiness 101 on YouTube. I want to do more to raise awareness for suicide prevention. I want to play guitar. I want to spend quality time with my wife. I want “the perfect twin. One who’d go out, as I came in”. In other words, I want “Everything”. If you think back to when you were a child, you might remember not wanting to go to sleep because you might miss something. I feel like that much of the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXrU1AGKF40

Utah has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. Many people are not aware of this because people do not like to talk about it. A big part of addressing the problem is to raise awareness and to educate.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is at the forefront of research, education and prevention initiatives designed to reduce loss of life from suicide. With more than 33,000 lives lost each year in the U.S. and over one million worldwide, the importance of AFSP’s mission has never been greater, nor our work more urgent.

Any contribution will help the work of AFSP, and all donations are 100% tax deductible.

Since I put out the word that we did not quite have the minimum number of participants for the training, several other people signed up, officially exceeding the minimum number …of attendees – so we are a go! This training could very well save lives. What better cause is there than that? So I am very happy and excited that we are locked in. http://www.facebook.com/events/377880785603892/

Today I was blessed at the Suicide Prevention Coalition with a surprise training in QPR – which stands for Question, Persuade, Refer. It’s first aid but for what to do when dealing with whose wounds are not visible and are considering suicide. This training is very simple, straight-forward and easy to remember. I am hoping that trainings pop up all over the state, so that everyone is potentially a first-responder and together we can lower the suicide rate in Utah.

This is a week to remember those who have fallen to suicide. There are several programs this week to raise awareness and bring hope to those who are still struggling including NAMI and the American Suicide Prevention Foundation. While honestly I hope we reach a point that we do not need to raise awareness about suicide, I am grateful that there is a special time on our calendar to remind us.

Yesterday I turned a negative into a positive. I had forgotten to remove the Suicide Prevention Coalition meeting from my calendar, so I ended up with over a two hour gap in my schedule. I used the opportunity to get many things done the biggest of which was that I knocked out nearly all of the remaining interviews for the next Happiness 101 class. I should be ready to send out the Golden Ticket E-mail sooner than later. Today I pause to express gratitude for the dividends paid by practicing what I preach – the ability to quickly and easily turn a “negative” and turn it into a positive.

SANPETE COUNTY — As families gathered in the auditorium of North Sanpete High School in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, they began to discuss the recent rash of suicides in Sanpete County in December of 2011. The small gathering of people were able to recall six suicides in just the last three weeks. The consensus was swift and unanimous: “It has to stop.”

In record time, the small band of citizens planned a candlelight vigil to raise awareness of the growing problem in Sanpete County. Sisters volunteered to organize the vigil, a brother created a Facebook page, a therapist started a grief group and an army of one delivered flyers from one end of the county to the other. The press was contacted.

The mission: Break the silence. The message: Talk about suicide. Ask the question, “Are you suicidal?” Get help.

The numbers are staggering, but the grief etched into the faces of those people at North Sanpete High School was overwhelming.

Two weeks later, I stood before the Main Library in Mt. Pleasant, adding my candle to the light of nearly 100 residents of Sanpete County. As with all tragedies, they want to know why — why are their loved ones dying? It’s a fair question with an unfair answer: We do not know.

What we do know is that suicide is preventable.

We know what to watch for: depression, drug or alcohol use, moodiness, irritability, giving away prized possessions, anger, isolation, recklessness and language indicating hopelessness, feeling trapped, and considering suicide as an option. We know that a person who takes their life has usually had a crisis within two weeks and is likely struggling with one or more problems with things like physical health, employment, finances, with the law or at school. We also know that there is often easy access to firearms and pills.

We also know that when one person takes their life, it can lead others to follow suit. A young woman at the candlelight vigil shared that she attempted suicide two weeks after her cousin died by suicide. She said, “I thought if he could do it, so could I.”

As counselor Monte Hauck said, “People simply don’t know how to handle things, so they try to take care of a problem the only way they could.”

It is true. When one is thinking of taking their own life, they might see it as the only option — the only way to make the pain stop. This is a result of what positive psychologists call a downward spiral. The further down the hole one goes, the fewer options they perceive — even though, objectively, there are many, many, many alternatives to suicide.

Science has revealed a shockingly simple antidote to the downward spiral: counting your blessings. When one is in the clutches of the downward spiral, pessimism is rampant. By identifying a few positives, one can start to realize that life is not so bad and there is hope. The journey of the upward spiral begins.

Research has proven the pull of an upward spiral to be just as powerful as a downward spiral. Using the “three good things” intervention, the father of positive psychology Martin Seligman helped 94 percent of his depressed participants rise from the level of severely depressed to either moderately or mildly depressed in only 15 days. Considering that this was the only intervention used in the study and that it takes only a few minutes a day, the results are nothing short of miraculous.

This exercise is a staple of Happiness 101, a class using methods proven by empirical research to restore hope, lift depression and offer alternatives to suicide. The free class —which is now awebinar, also offered free of charge to help reduce suicide in Utah — uses simple yet scientifically-proven methods and techniques to help those in the grips of depression see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. For instance, when one makes a pessimistic statement, using the technique of disputation quickly and easily loosens the grip of pessimism. If one thinks, “I’m doomed,” and that thought goes unchecked, then one will have the emotional experience of hopelessness. However, if one simply asks oneself, “Is that really true?” the dark clouds of pessimism are easily broken, allowing hope to shine through.

There is hope. Suicide is preventable. If you are thinking of suicide, please call 1-800-SUICIDE.

I am now a member of the Utah Suicide Prevention Council!! I went to my first meeting today. What an amazing group of professionals. I am so honored to be part of the council. My sincerest, super-sized, colossal THANK YOU to Lisa Marie Potter for inviting me in. I hope to gain support for the next webinar (scheduled in March).

I got a response! It would not be appropriate for me to go into any details here, but I will say that I am very excited about a response I received in response to a query about the Happiness 101 Webinar to Reduce Suicide in Utah. I was asked if it is an evidence based program. Oh boy, is it?!?! I can’t wait to douse ’em with the science. Today I got a boost of hope for the Webinar.